Masters of Beef Advocacy Get to Work

[3] It doesn’t require you to pass the SAT, ACT or even the LSAT to earn this MBA, but beef producers will benefit just the same. It’s the MBA – the
Masters of Beef Advocacy Program[4]. The newly designed MBA program is an e-learning opportunity developed to assist producers across the country in becoming effective spokespersons for the industry. The program consists of six, 1-hour core courses for the 2009 fiscal year: beef safety, beef nutrition, animal care, environmental stewardship, modern beef production and the beef checkoff. I'm proud of the first group of MBA graduates, whom are already very hard at work representing cattle producers on online forums.

NCBA's Executive Director of Communications, Daren Williams, recently sent me an update on this outstanding group of beef advocates. Williams reports that the MBA's have made great gains in the last couple of weeks. On Earth Day, there was a call to action for the MBA's that had completed the environmental stewardship course to write letters to the editors of their local publications. One MBA student sent out 36 letters in Calif., Texas, Iowa, Mont., and Neb., with at least 13 published!

The second deployment of MBA letters to the editors was in response to a Green Lantern column in the Washington Post[5], that made the claim, "some meats are greener than others[6]." As of today, 13 comments have been made, with 10 originating from MBA's. Link here [7]to read their comments or leave your own!

"I believe that we can make a difference, one person at a time, with an army of highly motivated beef industry activists," said Williams. "We recently launched the MBA Alumni Association (MBAAA) social networking site. This “Facebook-style” forum is open only to MBA graduates and is a gathering place for them to share the advocacy experiences and download the latest fact sheets, talking points, presentations, etc. they need to be everyday advocates for the beef industry."

I couldn't agree more with you, Daren. The Masters of Beef Advocacy are truly dynamic leaders in the industry that are working hard on behalf of all of us. Thanks again for all of your hard work! A full-day MBA graduation course will be held at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference this July. Producers wanting more information should contact Daren Williams at [email protected], 303-850-3346 or contact their state beef council.

Quick BEEF Daily Fact: Letters to the editor allow you to offer a short rebuttal to an article or commentary, or add a crucial missing perspective. Most letters should be 150-250 words. For more tips and guidelines on writing effective letters to the editors, check out this link[8].